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Old 03-18-2020, 11:36 AM   #41
Major
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Originally Posted by CowTimes View Post
I can’t believe the head-in-the-sand attitude. I suggest you spend some time looking at what is going on in Italy, with doctors having to choose which patients have a better chance of survival with ventilators, and being unable to help others dying on cots gasping for breath. Absent drastic measures, we are only a couple weeks behind Italy. And that is from the head of the NIH and Trump’s “face” of the pandemic response. If even Trump can now wrap his head around this, everyone should be able to.

No, there have not been large numbers of deaths in the U.S.... yet. As any epidemiologist will tell you, by the time the death toll starts to rise in a pandemic like this, you have already lost the battle.

This is going to be very painful for the economy, and yes, hourly earners, servers, etc. are the hardest hit. But at least if we act now we can have a chance at mitigating this highly contagious threat.

The flip side of this is that, if drastic mitigation efforts and social distancing are successful at slowing transmission and hopefully ultimately minimizing infections and deaths, we are going to hear how there was “overreaction” and “unnecessary harm to businesses.” The problem with these types of things is that if you’re actually successful on the front end, you won’t know how bad it could have been. Only if you’re unsuccessful will you look back and say that we all should have done more.
I'm sorry, but what happens in Italy has little or no bearing on what happens in the U.S. Regardless, with socialized medicine, which certain segments of our country are clamoring for, deciding on who to treat or not treat is part of the deal. That is why a free-market health care system is superior.

My guess is that you don't own a small business. You wouldn't understand the frustration of having your business being destroyed and witnessing your employees suffering. As we speak, a good portion of our population is wondering how it will pay bills, feed families, and keep their homes. The economic price paid by this overreaction will be tremendous. And small businesses, especially restaurants, are wondering when and if they will ever reopen. Their lives matter too.

To date, the H1N1 crisis was far worse. (The present Chinese coronavirus could end up being worse, we just don't know.) How did we handle that? We didn't have reports from this country or that stating that the sky is falling. We didn't have the media or social media stirring us into a panic. We dealt with it by being responsible and taking metered steps in preventing its spread.

Personally, I don't want to see it spread, and have loved ones would probably wouldn't survive if they were afflicted with it. However, even they say it's an overreaction.
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